The photography offerings in Phillips’ recent New Now sale in New York executed an almost perfect auction inversion. The top lot Thomas Struth print did not sell, but everything else did, and most did so at prices above their estimate range. With a roughly 6% overall Buy-In rate, the Total Sale Proceeds found their way to the middle of the aggregate pre-sale range, even without the typically important contribution of the headliner.
The summary statistics are below (all results include the buyer’s premium):
| Summary Statistics | |
|---|---|
| Total Lots | 19 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale Low Estimate | $263000 |
| Aggregate Pre Sale High Estimate | $383000 |
| Total Lots Sold | 18 |
| Total Lots Bought In | 1 |
| Buy In % | 5.26% |
| Total Sale Proceeds | $330875 |
Here is the breakdown (using the Low, Mid, and High definitions from the preview post):
| Detailed Breakdown | |
|---|---|
| Low Total Lots | 9 |
| Total Low Lots Sold | 9 |
| Total Low Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Low Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Low Lots | $62000 |
| Total Proceeds from Low Lots | $85250 |
| Mid Total Lots | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Sold | 8 |
| Total Mid Lots Bought In | 0 |
| Mid Buy In % | 0.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of Mid Lots | $141000 |
| Total Proceeds from Mid Lots | $151875 |
| Total High Lots | 2 |
| Total High Lots Sold | 1 |
| Total High Lots Bought In | 1 |
| High Buy In % | 50.00% |
| Aggregate High Estimate of High Lots | $180000 |
| Total Proceeds from High Lots | $93750 |
The top photography lot by High estimate was lot 93, Thomas Struth, Todai-Ji Interior, Nara, 1999, estimated at $80000-120000 (image in the preview post); it did not sell. The top photography outcome of the sale as lot 59, Alain Jacquet, Le Dejeuner sur l’herbe, 1964, estimated at $40000-60000, sold at $93750 (image above, via Phillips).
100.00% of the lots that sold had proceeds in or above the estimate range and there was only 1 positive surprise in the sale (defined as having proceeds of at least double the high estimate):
Lot 73, Sigmar Polke, Take Them All, 1969, estimated at $5000-7000, sold at $20000 (image above via Phillips)
The complete lot by lot results can be found here.
